[Shun] Kyoya had appeared out of nowhere.
And alongside him was Negishi Akako, who called herself
Why were these two together?
In their previous lives, the two of them shouldn't have had any particular connection.
If that was the case, then in this life they must have met at some point and ended up traveling together.
"I'm Sophia. I threw away that old name a long time ago."
"Come on, it's gonna come out eventually anyway, so why put on airs?"
"Don't order me around."
Negishi—now Sophia—glared at Kyoya.
Indeed, the impression she gave compared to the Negishi of their previous life was completely different.
In their previous life, she had been the quiet type who was always looking down, giving off a creepy vibe.
In this life, she spoke in an arrogant tone with her head held high, radiating confidence.
If Kyoya hadn't told him, Shun probably never would have guessed they were the same person.
There was nothing left of the shadow that had been called "Rihoko" behind her back in their past life.
"Oh."
A spell was launched at Kyoya and Sophia.
It was an elven spell.
Both Kyoya and Sophia blocked it effortlessly.
"Concentrated fire!"
A man who appeared to be an elven squad leader shouted.
In response, the surrounding elves all opened fire at once.
"Wait!"
Shun's voice didn't reach them.
He wanted to tell them they weren't enemies, but Kyoya had already declared outright that he had come to annihilate the elves.
From the elves' perspective, they were unmistakably enemies.
"How annoying."
Sophia swept her arm forward.
It deflected every one of the elves' attacks, and from her arm, a red liquid scattered outward.
The liquid writhed as if it had a will of its own and hurtled toward the elves at tremendous speed.
By the time anyone thought to stop it, it was already too late—the elves who made contact dissolved with a violent sizzling sound and a putrid stench.
"Kuh!?"
Turning toward that voice, Shun saw
The red liquid clung to Hyrince's shield, threatening to engulf it entirely.
Beyond her stood Ana and their teacher.
"Stop!"
He reflexively swung his sword at Sophia.
Kyoya caught it.
"Light. You seriously think you can cut someone with a flimsy little sword like this?"
Shun was casually batted away.
It was clear proof that Kyoya's attack stat vastly exceeded his own.
"Hey, Sophia. The one collapsed back there—that's the teacher, isn't it?"
"Oh? Is it?"
"Probably, yeah."
"Well then, I suppose I'll have to stop. I'll let you go."
When Sophia snapped her fingers, the red liquid smoothly withdrew from Hyrince's shield.
Then the liquid that had scattered across the surroundings coiled around Sophia's arm and was absorbed into her body as if it had never existed.
He had never seen or even heard of a Skill like that.
What the heck was she?
"Forget the teacher—what about that half-elf?"
"No idea."
"Then I suppose there's no problem with killing her."
The dangerous words coming from Sophia put him on edge.
He readied his sword.
"Oh dear, Shun's gotten angry. What should we do?"
"Is that somehow my fault? I don't really care either way. If she stands against me, I'll just crush her without killing her."
"She is my friend, you know?"
"Then go convince her. I don't care either way."
Kyoya was one thing, but Sophia was dangerous.
Unknown abilities on top of that composure.
He figured it was best to assume she was extremely powerful.
Besides, even though his Appraisal worked on Kyoya to some extent, it had failed completely against Sophia.
『Appraisal was interfered with.』
He had seen that message exactly once before.
When he first used Appraisal on his teacher.
The teacher had called it a Ruler's authority.
In other words, both people standing before him were Rulers.
He had been so focused on guarding against Sophia that he had no capacity to monitor his surroundings.
A short scream told him the situation had shifted.
He turned to find countless elves swarming Hyrince.
They were the same ones Sophia had defeated earlier—the half-dissolved, wretched remnants of their bodies.
"Oh."
Sophia let out a small sound.
Her ability is controlling them!?
Damn it.
Hyrince deflected the swarming elves with her shield and slashed at them with her sword, but it was barely effective.
Shun hurried to help, but a sword was swung down at him.
At the end of the blade was Yugo's headless body.
『Zombie: A golem-like entity animated by an ability that manipulates corpses. It will continue to move until its body is completely destroyed.』
When he Appraised it, no Status appeared—only a description.
A Zombie. That was the true nature of what was attacking them now.
The fact that Yugo's decapitated corpse was calmly moving around meant that smashing its head was pointless.
To stop it, they would have to utterly destroy the body beyond any hope of recovery.
What an incredibly troublesome ability.
He blasted Yugo's Zombie away with magic.
Beside him, Kathia was incinerating elven Zombies with flame.
Shun was about to rush to Hyrince's aid when— "Oh."
An arrow pierced deep into Ana's chest while she was healing their teacher.
An arrow fired by an elf Zombie had struck Ana straight through the heart.
Her HP was plummeting before his eyes.
He needed to heal her immediately or she was in danger.
But elf Zombies blocked his path.
Both Hyrince and Kathia were pinned down, unable to move against the surging Zombies.
"Out of my way!"
He swept them aside and reached Ana.
At the same moment, Ana's HP hit zero.
Without hesitation, he activated his Merciless Skill.
He was not going to let Ana become a Zombie too.
《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill 'Taboo LV9' has become 'Taboo LV10'.》 《Conditions met. Activating the effects of Taboo. Installing now.》 Having successfully revived Ana, something surged into him.
"Gwaaaaaaaah!?!"
His head was in agony.
The pain was so overwhelming it felt like his skull would split apart.
But even as he thrashed on the ground, those things poured into his mind without mercy.
Kathia incinerated the elf Zombies and rushed to his side.
Hyrince positioned her shield to protect them.
Kyoya and Sophia seemed to be discussing something, but with the headache raging through his skull, Shun couldn't make out what they were saying.
"Shun! Stay with me!"
Kathia cast a healing spell on him.
But it was useless.
This was not the kind of pain healing could fix.
《Installation complete.》 Alongside that divine message, someone teleported in.
A person had appeared next to Kyoya and Sophia.
Shun recognized them.
It was a white-haired girl.
There was no forgetting her.
She was the final opponent Hyrince had shown him in
But why hadn't he noticed back then?
No—once he saw her in person, it made sense.
It was hard to discern, but a power of cognitive obstruction surrounded her.
A magic that ensured she could only be perceived as having white hair.
He hadn't been able to tell from the footage Hyrince had shown him.
But seeing the real thing in front of him, he broke through the cognitive obstruction, and her true identity came into sharp focus.
"
She was none other than the supposedly dead Reincarnator, Wakaba Himeko.
And then, Shun's consciousness was carved away by the pain, and he sank into the depths of the bottomless Naraku.